Monday, June 10, 2019

Prophecy of Regathering (GL39)

   'Appreciating God's Love'

A) Scattered for Disobedience
Deu 28:63-66  "And it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone.
    God promised the Israelites that if they disobeyed Him by committing the abominations of the Canaanites, He would destroy and scatter them to all nations where they had to follow the religions of their adopted countries.

Gathering them Back to Israel
Deu 30:1-2  "Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul"
    God also promised them that if they remembered the Covenant and returned to serve Him by obeying His words and commands, then He would gather them back to the land of Israel.
    When the Israelites returned back to Israel, they would be grateful to the Lord and they would loved the Lord with all their hearts.
Note - the Israelites were scattered because they hated the Lord with their idolatry. On their return, they loved the Lord for delivering them. For their salvation, the Lord will be scattering and gathering them again and again.
Deu 30:3-6  "that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
Note - it really hurts God to have to kill his idolatrous children, but because when the Israelites return they will be godly and saved. This will definitely ease His pain.

B) Annihilation of Israel and Judah
Eze 11:14-16  Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, 'Get far away from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession.' Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone."  
   Initially, the Northern Kingdom was annihilated by the Assyrians and later Jerusalem and the Southern Kingdom of Judah were destroyed.
    The Lord made it clear that He sent them into captivity so that He could be a sanctuary for them - to comfort, help, heal and protect them to build up their faith in Him, whenever they humbled themselves before Him just as in the case of Daniel and his Jewish friends.
   
Returnee were Devout Jews
Eze 11:17-21  Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel." ' And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
    All those gathered back to Israel were devout Jews (Please read the book of Ezra). They kept the Mosiac law to the latest. In the presence of God, they celebrated their feasts with great joy.
    Our delighted God gathered them back in many groups over a period of time.
Note  Israelites were idolaters at captivity but returnees were devout Jews, a delight to God.

C) Salvation of the Remnants
Isaiah 11:10-12  "And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious." It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
   Before the birth of our Lord Jesus (Root of Jesse), Israel was conquered by the Greeks and then by the Romans. The Israelites and rebels were scattered throughout the Middle East and to the rest of the world.
    At the death of Jesus, the veil in the temple of God was torn into two, signifying the departure of God, the end of Judaism and the beginning of the New covenant of the blood of Jesus.
    On Pentecost in Jerusalem, three thousand Jewish pilgrims from distant land accepted the Lord Jesus and then another five thousand later, thus fulfilling the above prophecy of gathering of the scattered and remnants of Israel the second time.
    The death of our Lord Jesus also fulfilled the prophecy of the grace of God to the Gentiles that whoever believes and accepts Jesus the Son of God as his Saviour will be saved.